


a broken man, his broken friends, and a broken little girl

by nbs4



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, F/M, Physical Disability, Rare Pairings, after the titans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3746788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nbs4/pseuds/nbs4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>erwin loves hange. hange loves erwin. the titans have been slain. a disheartened hange spends her days slaving away on prosthetics that she knows her husband can never use. a disillusioned erwin spends his days wandering aimlessly seeking redemption in a renewed world. levi, eren, armin, and mikasa are all living with them in the large, ancient hotel they found on the current outskirts of civilization. a nameless girl, crawling on the same ground that erwin does, finds her way into a tangled web of memories, pain and suffering being its glue. can she replace this adhesive with her own naive love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	a broken man, his broken friends, and a broken little girl

**Author's Note:**

> this is a guilty fucking pleasure aiight

 

nothing.

there's truly nothing left for me.

i accomplished everything i had ever wanted to. in the process, i did a lot of things i had never wanted to do. i'm satisfied, yet regretful. a constantly flipping coin in a confusing realm. i need purpose. answers. i'll only be happy once humanity is in the best possible circumstance, but even then, i'll be wandering...

* * *

 i feel my chin hit the battered wood of the work table. sweat drips down my forehead into my eyes. the burning sensation of salt is nothing compared to the pain of hundreds that presses upon me. when i saw him, bloodied and bruised, biting down on a rag in order not to scream from the pain of having a limb severed, it broke a part of my heart. though, that's not the worst pain he's gone though, and i know that's not the worst pain that anyone's ever gone through.

fact is, our society simply doesn't comprehend compassion towards the handicapped. i pinch the bridge of my nose. as if they didn't already have enough to deal with...

* * *

the streets are dark.

the streets are cold.

a faint light glows, pouring orange onto my body. this body of mine...i hate it. i especially hate seeing it all lit up...i'm in this alley because i'm nothing more than trash. trash, trash, trash. i could die and nobody would care. i'm just taking up space.

* * *

i roam for a while, stuck inside a surreal hell. the line between what's real and what's not blurs. my senses numb and all i'm doing is walking. one foot in front of the other. no more, no less. 

a faint light glows. a streetlamp. the light shines upon a young girl, no more than ten years old. i crouch down. she's asleep, or worse. her left leg is gone right below the knee. i place my arm underneath her back, lifting up her body. i hold her against my chest and make my way home.

"hange." 

the brunette looks up at me, then glances to the child i'm carrying.

"erwin, w-what happened? you were out so late..."

"i'm always out that late."

she sighs, and a throbbing pain echoes through me. "i..." she looked longingly into my eyes for a moment.

 

* * *

he pretends that i don't notice. the small gestures he makes, the way he holds his body, the tired lines beneath his eyelids...i know that he's walking into an abyss, but i can't stop him. there's nothing i can tell him that will make anything any better. and that kills me.

"where did the child come from?"

he smiles wistfully, looking down at the girl in his arm. "i found her lying in an alleyway. she's alive, i feel her breathing...faintly."

"put her in our bed. it's fine with me."

"will it be fine with the other residents of this house?"

"i don't care if it isn't. she needs us. i don't know how i know that, i just do."

erwin holds up her leg, or rather, her leg stump. "anything you can do about this?"

i bite my lip. "i've never made a prosthetic for a child before...but i'm sure i can. i just need to do some measurements. lay her down and i'll go get my measuring tape."

* * *

i open my eyes.

i feel so drowsy...a man and a woman are sitting next to the bed i'm laying in. they don't look familiar, and neither does the room i'm in. the ceiling is chipped, the wallpaper is peeling, and dusty books line the shelf on the far wall. it's all kind of pretty, though. a lantern dimly lights the room. the woman has long, brown hair and wears glasses. the man has very light blond hair and blue eyes, like me. i sit up slowly.

"ah, i see you're awake..." the man has a low but comforting voice. i like it. he smiles at me. 

"w-where am i?" i rub my eyes.

"my husband here saw you lying in the street and decided to take you home." the woman answers this time. she has a nice look in her eyes. i feel comfortable.

i turn back to the man. "th-thank you, sir!"

he looks away, a dream-like smile on his face. "i didn't really do anything..."

the woman crosses her legs. "he's always like this. he'll never take credit for his accomplishments." there was a tiny hint of sadness in her voice. 

"oh! i almost forgot. i've been working on this for a few hours..." the woman pulled out what looked like a fake leg from underneath her chair. it's me-sized too.

* * *

the girl's face instantly lights up. hange hands it to her and she hugs it, crying.

"h-how did you..."

"i make prosthetics for a living."

"how come?" it was an odd question, but i was willing to answer. i pulled up my sleeve, showing the girl my arm stump.

"you're not alone in this, okay?"

she leans over and hugs me, crying into my chest. the sensation is strange. i'm so used to watching others cry because of my actions...rarely had anybody come to me for comfort. i pat her on the back softly. 

"i hate to ask, but...how did you lose your leg?"

the girl swallows, then shakily replies. "i...i was living in stohess...my house fell down on me...there was a titan inside the walls...why was there a titan inside the walls?"

i had a sudden choking feeling.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> if you have any opinions feel free to share them below i don't mind whatsoever in fact just the opposite


End file.
